


Long Overdue (The Life of Gabriel Agreste)

by Alimator



Series: The Life of Gabriel Agreste [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A continuation of the Life of Gabriel Agreste series, Angst, Betrayal, Blood and Violence, F/M, Hugs, Kissing, Marriage, Married Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 17,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21643552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alimator/pseuds/Alimator
Summary: This is a continuation of 'The Life of Gabriel Agreste' series.So far Gabriel has proposed to Nathalie and Marinette and Adrien are getting together. Hopefully, this family will be one again and I won't be able to think up any problems to come in between... wait, I just thought of one...Sorry.Could be read as a stand-alone but if you enjoy it or are just confused about some of the details there's no harm in reading the other parts of the series ;)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Series: The Life of Gabriel Agreste [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489826
Comments: 44
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

He was nervous. Why was he nervous?

He’d done this before, he’d married Emilie. He had been fine then… right? 

Gabriel took a seat on the foot of his bed and rested his head in his hands. He was being stupid. He’d done this before. He’d done this before. He said it over and over in his head, but it wasn’t making him feel any better. It’s natural, he reminded himself, to feel nervous before a wedding. He’d get over it. Oh, how he wished Nathalie was there to comfort him.

She would know what to say, how to calm him.

An unexpected knock on the door shook him from his thoughts. Reluctantly he trudged over and pulled it open. Nathalie stood calmly before him, she leaned against the door frame and was smirking at his stressed expression.

“Nathalie! You really shouldn’t be here, it's bad luck,” he tried to look anywhere else besides her, “You can’t- I can’t-” he was getting flustered, over nothing, he mentally chided himself. 

Nathalie’s smirk became even more prominent, “you’re not really telling me that you believe in that shit?”

“I-well,” again words wouldn’t come.

“You were pacing, I came to see what that was all about,”

“I wasn’t-”

“You’re not getting cold feet, I hope?”

He tried to think up an excuse, “No! I’m just nervous, that’s all.”

“That’s what the term ‘cold feet’ means, darling,” she smiled.

“Right,” he frowned.

“Well, I’ll leave you be then,” she went up on her toes and gave him a peck on the nose before turning her heel and heading to her room next to his.

Damn it, he loved her so much.

000000

His heart pounded in his chest as he waited for her. He felt as though his whole life had led up to this moment. Through two years of fighting, heartbreak and pain she had been right there beside him the whole time, never once faltering. How long had she loved him? How long had she kept those feelings for him bottled up inside? She had helped him despite the fact that she would never be with him, despite the fact that it was her life she would have to give up, only to see him with another woman. What she must have felt watching him pine over Emilie? He couldn’t even start to understand the pain she must have felt. It was a wonder she hadn’t fallen into depression.

When he thought back to everything that had happened he knew it was all his fault. He couldn’t blame anyone for it. However, what continued to amaze him was how utterly obtuse he had been. Looking back, he wondered what he had thought Nathalie's reason behind helping him had been. Honestly, which normal assistant would help their super villain boss get their wife back just because? 

He was the luckiest man in the world. He was loved by Emilie and now by Nathalie, which other man could say that? He had a wonderful son and his girlfriend, most likely his future daughter in law, interning at Gabriel. His life had been broken to pieces and he had been lucky enough to be able to pick them up off the ground and put them back together again. Now he stood at the altar awaiting the woman he loved and he couldn’t ask for anything more. 

Adrien stood to the side in a smart gold waistcoat and gold bow tie. Marinette wore a completely gold silk dress, designed by herself, with a white gold necklace around her neck and she had even replaced her telltale red and black earrings for a pair of more elegant diamond sleepers. Adrien’s arm was hooked around Marinette’s waist and her head leaned against his shoulder. They had been dating for a while now and had become close, he expected that they would probably get married as soon as possible when they became of age and when Gabriel thought they were of age, which in his opinion was at twenty. 

He heard people standing up out of their seats and turning to face the woman coming down the aisle. A few gasps were heard, some oohs and ahhs too. He slowly turned his head and couldn’t help but do the same. She looked beautiful. He had designed the dress with the help of Marinette, but only Marinette had seen the final product. 

It was based off a peacock and sported their theme colours for their wedding, white and gold. It had a white silk bodice covered in lace, it was an off-shoulder and one arm they had left long, weaving a lace pattern down the arm. Round the back was a tapered gold pattern, much like the shorter tail feathers that come before the ‘eyed’ feathers on a peacock. The train was made up of silver and gold ‘eyed’ feathers. The quill and barbs of each feather were silver, but the eye was white and gold. It looked stunning on her. The dress hugged her curves perfectly and the train was a sight in itself. He probably looked like a fish out of water, standing there and gaping at her.

Finally, when she reached him he was able to shut his mouth and properly greet her, “You look great,” he whispered.

“This,” she gestured to her dress, “was all you,” they both smiled warmly at each other and then looked towards the priest. Both were atheist’s but thought that they might as well get married in a church. 

00000

“Gabriel Agreste, do you take Nathalie Sancouer to be your lawful wedded wife?”

“I do,” he smiled warmly at her. He couldn’t get over her. 

“Nathalie Sancouer, do you take Gabriel Agreste to be your lawful wedded husband?”

“I do,” 

00000

“You may now kiss the bride.”


	2. Chapter 2

The snow powdered every surface with cold white dust, like icing sugar on a cake. The soft crunch underfoot and the wisps of warm air when one breathes out spelt cold and Christmas. The trees were covered in snow, with only a patch of green poking out here and there, but the ground was covered in a thick layer and not even a blade of grass had survived. The Eiffel Tower stood proudly in the distance illuminating the city even more. Dancing lights lit up the streets and houses everywhere, ‘Santa, Stop Here!’ signs had been placed by children eager for their gifts and there was a twinkle in the eye of every passer-by.

Gabriel's eyes were closed as he leaned in to kiss her. She took complete advantage of the moment and flashed Adrien a quick wink and received a mischievous grin in return. She pressed her lips to his and let go of the small handful of ice in her hand, letting it slide down the back of his shirt. Gabriel jumped backwards, his eyes were wide and his mouth was open.

The snow must have been numbingly cold against his back and much to Adrien and Nathalie's amusement that wasn’t a very pleasant feeling. Gabriel was doing a deranged dance, trying and failing to get the ice out from under his shirt if no one knew better, he could have been summoning Satan. 

“Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. Ah, that’s cold,” he winced.

Adrien was cracking up, tears formed in his eyes and his stomach hurt, but it was totally worth it. Nathalie was next to him in the same position. Watching calm, composed Gabriel Agreste jump up and down in some sort of dance was hilarious. 

Finally recovering Gabriel glared at his wife and son. Momentarily the laughter ceased when they saw his expression, but as quickly as it stopped it started again.

“Oh, so that's how you want to play it?” Gabriel asked slowly towards Nathalie, punctuating every word and struggling to fight the smile that was tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He bent down and scooped up a small handful of snow into his hand, ignoring the freezing cold. Armed and ready, his walk quickly turned into a jog and then a run as he leapt after Nathalie. She gave a little shout and ran in the opposite direction. She was quick on her feet, Gabriel was her superior by two years and he had passed the age where exercise started to catch up with him. He was panting, but he didn’t give up chase, with a small burst of energy he lunged forward and tackled her to the ground. 

He dropped the ice into her shirt and kissed her deeply. Despite her squirming, he pinned her down and kissed her harder. 

“Eww!” Adrien heaved a snowball at his father and it exploded at contact.

“Hey!” both of his parents were up on their feet in an instant. Another ball of snow hit Gabriel’s shoulder.

The game was on!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank GabenathNation05 for prompting me to write this fic. It's more light hearted than the other 3 parts, but there is still going to be some issues... as there always is.


	3. Chapter 3

Nathalie was already firing snowballs back at Adrien but to no avail. Adrien had taken cover behind his fortress of snow and was strategically aiming and throwing, whereas Nathalie and Gabriel were taking advantage of the two against on scenario that was going on. 

“We’ll get you Chat Noir!” Gabriel teased.

“I’d like to see you try, Hawkmoth!” Adrien laughed and flung a snowball at his father only missing him by an inch. 

“Mayura,” Gabriel called to Nathalie, “get him!” 

“Will do Hawkmoth!” Nathalie replied. As Adrien peeked over his snow wall a snowball hit him square in the face, some landed in his mouth and he spat it out with disgust. 

“Got you Chat Noir!” 

“Not a chance, Mayura,” Adrien’s next snowball hit her chest and she recoiled slightly at the impact.

Taking advantage of his small victory Adrien aimed for his father, but failed to find him in the midst of snow. A large heap of snow hit the back of his head and he was drawn back into his fight with Nathalie. 

Adrien fought back. His position strong, but he couldn’t help but wonder where his father had gone off to. 

Quickly he was closing in on Nathalie, landing more and more hits, then he was covered in snow, “What?” he blinked rapidly, snowflakes were perched precariously on his eyelashes and he blinked once more to brush them off. Gabriel and Nathalie were standing together and laughing hysterically at him. His father held a now-empty bucket in his hand, he must have been off filling it up with snow. 

Regaining his composure he stood up and brushed off the extra snow, “Fine then,” Adrien started running full speed towards his parents, “Cataclysm!” he tackled them both into a hug. 

00000

“We’ll get you Chat Noir!” Gabriel Agreste bent down and tried to pack a snowball as fast as he could.

“I’d like to see you try, Hawkmoth!” Adrien was already prepared, but his aim was off. His snowball missed his father and landed off to the side, blending back in with the snow.

“Mayura, get him!” Nathalie Agreste’s attention was now on Adrien and she landed a hit perfectly in Adrien’s face.

She watched the scene with awe and fear. It couldn’t be true, could it? 

Marinette had come to the Agreste’s mansion to wish them all a Merry Christmas and give Adrien a late Christmas gift but had seemed to have come in the middle of a raging snowball fight. At first, she watched with amusement. Her boyfriend, though 16 was still such a baby. All of them were. Then things started to get serious. Gabriel had started it by calling Adrien Chat Noir. That of course she knew was true, she had loved Adrien for so long and when they had found out each other’s identities it was both a blessing and a relief. They had been chasing each other’s tails for so long and finally revealing their identities had shone light upon their situation. 

However, Adrien had replied to Gabriel’s comment with a jab of his own, stating simply that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. It was a game, she reminded herself, but there was truth in Adrien’s voice.

Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth? No! No way! Gabriel was her boss, her idol, her boyfriend’s father, that list didn’t include supervillain. What reason did he have to be Hawkmoth anyway?

Then Gabriel had spoken to Nathalie in a voice that closely resembled the infamous Hawkmoth’s: “Mayura, get him!”. He had said it as though he had said it many many times before. 

Annoyingly she could see the sense in it. Just like Alya had seen the sense in Adrien being Chat Noir, as stupid as it had sounded then. A whole family of miraculous wielders? Unlikely, but… 

Adrien had pulled Nathalie and Gabriel into a hug and they hugged him tightly back. If it weren’t for the thoughts that were circling her head she would have thought it cute, but all her mind could do was scream at her. 

HAWKMOTH AND MAYURA ARE HUGGING CHAT NOIR! GO SAVE HIM!

If she didn’t know better she would have. Instead, she stepped out from her quiet spot in the corner and said his name.

“Hawkmoth?” 

They all looked towards her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom! There's the problem!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, calm down!

“Marinette! What a pleasure!” Gabriel forcefully beamed, glancing warily to his left at Nathalie. 

“I asked you a question, Hawkmoth,” she gritted her teeth. There must be an explanation. She was pushing things too far. 

“Marinette,” Adrien’s tone was careful and warning, almost threatening. 

“How about you come inside, Ms. Dupain,” Nathalie said through clenched teeth.

“How about you tell me what’s going on!” Her voice was getting louder.

“We were playing a game, nothing more-” Adrien reached out in hope of comforting her, but Marinette just glared and cut him off.

“It didn't sound like ‘nothing’” 

Inside she felt betrayed, by Adrien, by her boss, by Nathalie. They had become like a family to her. Gabriel was the man she looked up to, the person she had admired for so long. Adrien was her boyfriend, the boy she had been pining over for as long as she could remember. Nathalie had become like a friend to her, she had finally managed to look past her cold demeanour and see a loving, caring woman inside. To learn that they were Hawkmoth and Mayura and that Adrien had known all along hurt. 

“Mari, breathe. It’s going to be okay,” she was about to retort, but Adrien added, “lets go inside Mari, we can talk about it then.”

She wanted to protest, but clenched her jaw and gave them a stiff nod. 

00000

Nathalie busied herself with making some hot chocolate for the four of them. Her actions were stiff and stressed. They didn't know what Marinette would do now that she had found out. It was going to happen eventually, but she wished it at a different time and a different circumstance. She scolded herself, it was stupid how she had found out, they had been playing in the bloody snow and Marinette happened to be watching. Stupid. 

She felt his strong arms wrap around her waist and she leaned into his embrace.

“Why is it always us, Gabe?”

He giggled softly, “Honestly, I’m tired of keeping so many secrets. I just hope we can get over this without too much fuss.”

“Agreed,” Nathalie turned around and buried her head into his chest, forgetting about their hot chocolates. 

Gabriel kissed her forehead and sighed, “Maybe Adrien can calm her.”

“We can only hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back boys! Thank God.
> 
> I basically had written two chapters in one sitting during the Christmas period, but didn't get the chance to post it.
> 
> All I'd like to say is: Welcome back, (Late) Merry Christmas and a (Late) Happy New Year!


	5. Chapter 5

Adrien watched the flames flicker in the fireplace. Albeit his eyes were getting watery, but he couldn’t help but stare at the flame. How could humans manage to control such a gift as fire. A chaotic piece of life. It can burn down forests, but from the ashes of the forest grows another. 

“Are you even listening to me?” a sharp shrill brought him from his thoughts.

“Mari, please-”

“No! How could you know all of this! Know who that piece of shit is and be fine with it? Be fine with it and not tell me!?”

“He’s my father,” there was pleading behind his eyes, in hope that she would understand.

“He’s a criminal! He’s a villain! He deserves to-” she snapped her mouth shut before her words betrayed her.

“He deserves to what?” his voice cracked slightly, but he brought himself together. Anger bubbled up inside of him, “He deserves to what?” Marinette shook her head solemnly.

“Adrien-”

“SAY IT!” he shouted. 

“Fine,” she snapped, “He deserves to die!” they both took a sharp inhale at the word, “There,” she jabbed, “I said it. He deserves to die for what he’s done. For what he's done to Paris. For what he’s done to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was writing the first bit of this chapter I realised that it sounded as though a  
> Adrien was some kind of pyromaniac. Adrien isn't a pyromaniac, I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't even try... just read.

Adrien sat up a little straighter at that. He didn't realise she felt like that about Hawkmoth. It must have been hard for her. She was almost killed on multiple occasions.

“For what he's done to you,” she added quietly. 

The young Agreste shook his head vigorously, “No, no. He just wanted to help. He wanted to mend our family, he-” again his voice failed on him. Tears spilled, rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed silently.

“It hurts you know,” her voice was soft and calm. Though now, that voice that he had gone to countless times he recoiled from now, “You remember when ‘Nightmare Adrien’ strangled me?” of course he remembered, “when I woke up the first thing I saw was you. We sat on my roof for an hour before my parents finally found us. When you're so close to death Adrien, it plays games with your head. It hurts every time I think of that day. It was because of him.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No! You don’t understand! My mother,” Marinette stood still. Her expression of confusion and surprise, “Emilie, he was trying to get her back.”

They stood in silence for several uncomfortable seconds before Marinette spoke, “You can’t bring back the dead Adrien.”

“She wasn’t dead,” Marinette shook her head, “the peacock miraculous was damaged, she was put into a coma,” Adrien’s eyes flicked back toward the fireplace, “father brought her back,” he didn’t need to see Marinette’s expression to know what she was thinking, “It's confusing, but basically he came back because of Nathalie.”

“I’m done.”

Adrien snapped his head around to face Marinette, “what?”

“I need a break Adrien. From all of this, from you.”

“Mari, you can’t do this. Please, just try to understand,” for the hundredth time that day Marinette shook her head in sorrow.

“I’m trying, but I need time Adrien, I need to be by myself for awhile,” Adrien tried to protest, but he only managed to form the words in his head before she continued, “I’ll try to understand your point if you understand mine,” the words were meant to be calming, but Adrien felt threatened.

“Fine. Merry Christmas Mari.”

She moved towards him, but he shrugged her off, “Merry Christmas Adrien,” she nodded curtly.

She plucked her coat from the sofa. Marinette gave Adrien one last look before exiting the room and walking out into the white, powdery snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah...  
> Sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

They found Adrien hunched forward on the sofa, he looked on the brink of tears. Nathalie squeezed Gabriel’s hand, she moved to sit down next to Adrien and Gabriel sat on the other side of his son. Nobody said a word, all content with sitting there in silence.

“She left,” announced the younger Agreste. Gabriel looked over at his wife. Nathalie just closed her eyes and sighed, mimicking Adrien's position, “she said she needed time to think about it. I told her everything.”

Again a heavy silence followed. The sadness was the weight of lead on their shoulders. For all the happiness Christmas brought they felt none of it at that moment. 

“She’ll come round,” Nathalie finally said, though she wasn’t sure if she believed it herself. 

Adrien shook his head solemnly, “Goodnight,” he got up and without looking at either of them left for his bedroom.

000000

“Do you think Adrien will be okay?” Nathalie asked as she stared up at the ceiling. Gabriel glanced over at the woman lying next to him.

“Marinette is a good girl. She will know what to do in the end and I have every confidence that she’ll make the right decision,” Gabriel paused turning his attention away from Nathalie, “even if it is at the expense of us,” he mumbled.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing darling,” he replied and pulled her closer.

He had no idea what the girl would do. It must be hard for her to even think straight. Her boyfriend’s father, her boss was the villain that had traumatized her and Parisians for two years straight and whats worse the boy she trusted on multiple occasions with her life knew who Hawkmoth was and never told her. She must be completely conflicted on what was better for the people she loved and what her head was telling her. 

He had complete faith that she would choose wisely, that was true. He just hoped that she chose what was right for all of them. He looked down at the woman he held in his arms. He couldn’t lose her again. He wasn’t going to ever let her go.

He was done fighting. He was tired of it. Being Hawkmoth had completely drained him, and he didn’t have the willpower to do it anymore. Gabriel would let life run its course and see what the outcome was in the end. However, he knew deep down there was still energy to fight for the people he loved. He would, without hesitation. 

He nuzzled her hair and tried to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter I'll give you an insight into what Marinette is up to.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... 
> 
> Don't even ask.

“I don’t know what to do Tiki,” Marinette had spent the last half-hour staring at the maths equation before her:

The number 96 can be written as 2 to the power of m multiplied by n, where m and n are prime numbers. Find the value of m and the value of n.

(The answer is m=5, n=3 btw)

2x3= 6  
6x7=42  
No  
2x5=  
No  
2x7=14  
14x9=  
NO!

Tiki watched on as her master furiously scribbled on her maths book trying to work out the answer. Being a tiny god who had lived through centuries and eras Tiki knew a thing or two about maths. Enough to know that Marinette was making the mistake of multiplying 2 by a prime number instead of using the prime numbers as exponents. 

“If you need help with your homework you can just ask Marinette,” the kwami squeaked in her high pitched voice.

“No, not that… well, yeah I guess I could do with some help, but I was talking about the Agreste’s.” 

“Ah…” Tiki looked off into the distance her attention taken up by the thoughts in her mind causing her eyes to glaze over as she stared into an abyss of her own creation. 

“Tiki,” the kwami’s head didn’t move but her eyes snapped over to look at Marinette with scary speed, “What should I do,” she asked once she had gained the god’s attention. 

Tiki thought about this for a while. Personally she felt as though Marinette was overreacting. Gabriel and Nathalie had done nothing but be good to her after the Hawkmoth ordeal despite knowing her identity. They were kind and caring and loved the girl as if she was their own daughter which she soon would have been if Marinette hadn’t broken up with Adrien the day before. 

The truth was she had some biased on her behalf. Nathalie and Gabriel had granted Nooroo and Dusuu the ability to meet with their kwami friends including Tiki and Plagg. No more were they kept under restrictions besides from not uttering a word about their master’s identities, however, the obeying of the order was more Nooroo and Dusuu’s loyalty to their masters than the actual magic that was binding them to it. 

Tiki truly believed they had changed for the better Nooroo and Dusuu and Plagg, who was sworn to secrecy about Hawkmoth and Mayura’s identities but not by magic, had met with her and during the period of time Marinette had been over and explained the circumstances under which Nathalie and Gabriel had used the miraculous. Tiki didn’t see any evil in Gabriel doing it to get his dead wife back, she even thought it was kind of cute. However, she realised the way he had gone about doing so had been harmful to many Parisians. 

She understood Marinette’s point of view also. More than her surprise of Gabriel and Nathalie being Hawkmoth and Mayura was the feeling of betrayal that neither Gabriel and Nathalie nor Adrien had told her, knowing she was Ladybug. They were like family to her and they had betrayed her. There was nothing more to it. Of course, Tiki had felt outraged that Plagg hadn’t told her before as well, but she understood why and she got over it. 

The other side of Marinette’s problem was the trauma she had been through because of Hawkmoth. That, she admitted, she wouldn’t ever be able to empathise with, though she was consciously aware of everything that was going on around her master when they were transformed it wasn’t like being them, and then there was the small fact of her not being human. Marinette had witnessed things that could scar people for life, including Adrien being stabbed, even if it wasn’t the real Adrien. She had been strangled. She had watched Chat Noir kill a man in cold blood, she had seen so much death and so much pain. Hawkmoth had hurt her friends and her partner. Hawkmoth had hurt her. That was hard for anyone to forget. 

The kwami felt slightly guilty for her thoughts against her master, but she stood by her opinion, though she wouldn’t voice it for now, “I don’t know Marinette,” the kwami replied flatly, “I don’t see the problem.”

Marinette frowned, “What do you mean? They didn’t tell me anything. They kept their damn mouths shut. They didn’t even try,” with every word she said Marinette worked her self up more and more, “He hurt me and he hurt Adrien,” she continued to list, “and he hurt my friends and my family, he hurt innocent Parisians and his ex-wife and his wife,” her tone was so bitter Tiki flinched, “HE DIDN’T EVEN CARE!” 

“Marine-” TIki tried to calm Marinette down but was once more bombarded by her anger.

“He hurt me Tiki, so much. I want to punch him hard in that stupid pretty face of his, I want to stab him and watch him as he dies, I want to do everything he did to me back at him. I want him to feel the pain he inflicted on me,” her voice went quiet, a sad lonely sound, “I just wish he had never been Hawkmoth.”

And from that last sentence, she knew what she wanted and she already had half of her answer on her ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...
> 
> I guess you guys are in for a traumatic rollercoaster ride.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know the name of this fic is quite fitting because this chapter is most definitely 'long overdue'.

Adrien sat silently on his bed. Not even Plagg dared to interrupt him when he was in such a mood. When Nathalie entered the room with his lunch all he did was shrug and turn away from her, taking a profound interest in the white wall. Nathalie had spoken to Gabriel about what could be done to cheer the boy up. They had agreed to let Marinette do her thing and not try to get in her way. What would happen would happen. Adrien, however, prefered to wallow over the events of Christmas. It was unfortunate to see him in such a state. She hadn’t seen him this sad for a very long time, and that too, so close to Christmas.

“Adrien, eat.” he hadn’t eaten breakfast either and they were starting to get worried. Plagg had been giving them regular status updates on Adrien and none of them sounded good. 

For a moment Adrien just stared at the expensive food in front of him. He looked up at Nathalie and sighed, picking up the fork and stuffing a spoonful in his mouth again and again with a sad monotonous rhythm. Nathalie silently came to sit next to him on the bed and Adrien inched his way closer to her. She put an arm around Adrien and begun stroking his hair as he ate his food. It was a peaceful silence and both were content to just sit and wait until the other was ready. They were both comforted by the presence of each other. Adrien finished his food, set the plate aside and leaned further into his mother, more than happy to just lie in her arms. 

“Maybe you should take a break, Adrien,” Nathalie mused.

“What do you mean?” 

“A holiday. You always wanted to go to meet my parents. Why don’t you go?” 

“On my own?” he looked at Nathalie quizzically.

“Why not? You’re 15, it’s about time your father let you go somewhere on your own,” she doubted that Gabriel would like this plan, but she would work her magic and in the end, he’d agree. 

“But what about you two?” 

‘What about Marinette?’ He was about to ask but decided otherwise. 

“Don’t worry about your father and me, we’ll be fine,” Adrien thought about this. He did need a holiday, but he also needed to be Chat Noir, Paris’ hero. Hence why he needed a holiday. No harm would come to the city under Ladybug’s protection, however, he knew that she needed a holiday too. In some sense, he felt guilty for taking one and leaving Marinette to the one who actually did most of the work alone. 

“Take a break Chat Noir,” Nathalie said softly. She smiled with her eyes and not her mouth and quietly left, “Just tell me and you’ll be on your way.”

000000

“I understand,” were her ears deceiving her?

“You do?” she said, going down at the end of the sentence and not up. Her face was serious, Gabriel thought it was cute. He smiled at her and took both her hands in his. 

“I think it’s a good idea, Mrs. Agreste.” he placed a kiss on her forehead, but she only frowned. 

“What’s gotten into you?”

His smile became tight. He was worried. He was scared. There was a little voice in the back of his head that was telling him that something was going to happen, something big and he didn’t want either of the people he loved to be there when it happened.

“Maybe you should go to?” He offered. 

Nathalie gave her husband a stern look, “and leave you alone to run Gabriel? I don’t think so. The business would go up in flames the moment I stepped out of the door,” Gabriel kept quiet and kept staring at her lovingly. Nathalie noticed the tension behind the look. She knew him so well, with just one look she could evaluate his mood, how much he’d slept, how strong he needed his coffee, “Gabe, what’s wrong?” 

“You should go to.” it wasn’t a question.

“I see,” she left him to go sit at her desk. Gabriel stood still in place listening to the tapping of Nathalie’s keyboard as she continued with her work. He eventually trod over to his own podium and started tapping away at the screen without any end goal. 

After a half-hour of silence, neither actually getting half an hours worth of work done, Nathalie spoke up, “I hope you know what you’re doing Gabriel. I hope what you’re doing is right,” she looked straight at him, “Be careful,” it sounded more of a threat than anything, but Gabriel appreciated her agreement, “I’ll get everything ready then, we’ll leave by tomorrow afternoon. Will that be adequate?” Her professional tone alerted him to her anger, she wasn’t happy about what she was doing. 

“More than,” he replied and they fell back into silence. 

000000

“Marinette I urge you to reconsider. You’re declaring war against Chat Noir, against Hawkmoth.”

“Who cares, Tiki. I’m not declaring anything against Chat Noir. I’m going to ask him to give me his miraculous, tell him he needs a break from being a hero. Tell him that I can handle it for a while. He won’t even know. I’ll convince him to go on holiday. No harm will come to him. I’ll beat Hawkmoth up a bit and then wish him away.”

“That’s murder Marinette,” Tiki shook at the thought.

“No, you don’t understand,” Marinette frowned, sighing, almost disappointed at her kwami.

“Then explain to me.”

“You. Won’t. Understand,” she clenched her jaw, “Tomorrow, we’re doing it tomorrow,” there was a sharp intake of breath as Tiki gasped. The bitterness in her master’s voice truly scared her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, everything is going down hill.


	10. Chapter 10

Nathalie stares herself down in the mirror of their bathroom. She looks horrible. She hardly got any sleep, but she’s used to the look, she’d always cover the bags under her eyes with heavy makeup before Gabriel would ever see her and start to worry. Now she didn’t have the same luxury. 

“Nathalie,” Gabriel entered the room and lingered at the door. 

“Hmm?” She pretended not to notice the slight flicker of concern in his eyes and applied her makeup. 

“I was thinking,” Gabriel started fiddling with his cuffs. It didn’t matter how early in the morning it was, Gabriel was dressed to impress, “Maybe you and Adrien should keep your miraculous here?” 

She arched her eyebrow and looked at him through the mirror, “Why?”

“I don’t know, I just thought they’d be safer here.”

“Really?” she mocked.

“Come on Nat, I just want you two to have fun, relax, not have the miraculous to remind you of your duties,” Gabriel explained.

“Adrien will be there, he’s my duty,” Nathalie retorted.

“You know what I mean,” he glared back.

“No Gabriel, I don’t see the point. I don’t wear my miraculous, I only keep it on my person for emergencies. Adrien is Chat Noir, it’s his job to deal with emergencies.”

“That’s the point,” he pointed, hands out in front of him, fingers spread, “You shouldn’t need to tend to emergencies!” 

“What are you planning Gabriel?”

“Nathalie, I want you to be safe, you and Adrien. That’s all I ever wanted. Please leave them here. Wherever the miraculous goes trouble follows. Adrien literally jumps into danger with that miraculous of his and I doubt you wouldn’t do the same,” Nathalie’s jaw clenched, “Adrien will listen to you, please Nathalie.”

“You know where mine is,” she sighed in defeat. 

“Thank you,” he came to her and kissed her cheek before leaving her alone again. 

000000

“I don’t understand, why?” Adrien’s quizzical look amplified her own feeling of uncertainty. 

“We should not have to use our miraculous at my parent’s house Adrien, so I think it's best just to keep them here with your father.” 

Adrien squinted his eyes slightly in confusion, but nodded and slid the ring off his finger, “Bye Plagg,” he held the ring before his face and smiled at it as though the little being inside could see him. Adrien handed Nathalie the ring and she passed it to Gabriel. 

“I don’t know what you’re planning Gabriel, but please stop. For our sake don’t do whatever you are going to do,” she told him in a hushed but harsh tone.

“Have a little faith in your husband, darling,” he quipped, but she held her glare, “I love you too,” Gabriel placed a chaste but passionate kiss on her lips. 

“Time to go, Mother,” Adrien was already lugging both Nathalie’s and his bags to the car before their driver came and relieved him of the load. 

Nathalie’s stern gaze softened, “promise me you’ll keep safe, Gabe,” she gave him one last peck on the cheek before following Adrien into the car. 

Gabriel watched silently as the car rolled out of the gates. That wasn’t a promise he was sure he could keep.

000000

Ladybug flew through the air and landed perfectly with almost no sound on the wall surrounding the Agreste mansion. From her position, she could see Gabriel sitting at his desk in the atelier, toiling away at some design or another. However, there was no Nathalie in sight. She ran swiftly around the perimeter of the fence, scouting all sides of the house trying to find the other two inhabitants, but as far as she could see they weren’t there. She let out a grunt of frustration. She’d find out where Adrien was and then deal with Hawkmoth. Now, it was time for a little innocent interrogation.

She swung over to the door and waltzed in. Her blood was boiling, but she’d have to keep it cool for now, just until her plan had played out. Dropping her transformation she walked up to the atelier door and knocked.


	11. Chapter 11

“Ms Dupain Cheng. A pleasure, as always,” Gabriel grit his teeth and forced a smile. He looked down at the intruder trying to seem intimidating yet friendly at the same time; a rather difficult task.

“Mr Agreste,” she replied just as curtly, smiling, but not with her eyes. Gabriel bit down harder, at this point his teeth would break and his jaw would stick.

“Please, do sit down Marinette,” his voice was sickly sweet, which wasn’t hard to do since he was Gabriel Agreste. He was starting to get agitated at her presence. Her whole demeanour was offputting and oppressing. Gabriel led her to a sofa, but neither sat. He cocked his head slightly to express his confusion. Marinette raised her brows in response, “Marinette, may I ask why you’ve come?”

“I was just wondering where Adrien was?” 

Adrien and Nathalie would be an hour into their journey by now, halfway to Reims where Nathalie’s parents lived. He felt somewhat grateful.

“He’s not here,” Marinette knew as much.

“Yes, I presumed,” she assumed he would have texted her if he was going anywhere special, but it seemed that Adrien still needed some time after their breakup. 

“He’s not here Ms Dupain Cheng. If that is all, I have lots of work to complete,” his tone was harsh, much like the one he’d use for annoying employees, which was fitting as Marinette was an employee and he was getting quite annoyed at her.

“Don’t you always Mr Agreste?” Gabriel’s eyes widened, “Where is Adrien?” her tone was bitter.

“Marinette,” he warned, his voice lowered an octave.

Marinette brought up her transformation and in a pink flash, Ladybug was standing in front of him. Gabriel visibly backed away, getting ready to transform himself, “Where is Adrien?” her yoyo was in her hand and spinning. She walked closer to him and for every step he took back she took two forward. The yoyo spun dangerously close to him.

“He’s not here, he’s going to Reims with Nathalie. Marinette, please put the yoyo down,” it sounded absurdly stupid saying it, but he’d seen what it could do first hand. 

“DAMN IT, GABRIEL!” she growled, the older Agreste flinched, nearly calling upon Nooroo right then and there. 

“I don’t understand-” he started but was interrupted abruptly by Ladybug.

“Oh, but I think you do,” he really didn’t, “You hurt me, Gabriel, you know that?”

“I’m truly sorry Marin-” 

“NO, YOU AREN’T,” He wasn’t used to being shouted at by her, by anyone really, “YOU AREN’T SORRY FOR ANYTHING THAT YOU’VE DONE! YOU’RE CRUEL AND VILE AND-”

“MS DUPAIN CHENG!” He countered. Clearing his throat as if shouting was a disgraceful act, “Please, I didn’t do it to harm you. You have to understand that.”

Ladybug laughed. It sounded completely wrong, demented and coming from the one and only Ladybug’s mouth. She turned away from him, still laughing. Gabriel relaxed somewhat, at least the yoyo wasn’t swinging in his face-

Ladybug reared back and spun around, her fist flying straight towards Gabriel’s face. The punch connected with his right cheekbone. It knocked him to the ground. His head almost immediately started throbbing, the world spun slightly. He groaned and got back on his feet, albeit shakily. 

She kicked him hard in ribs. The pain blossomed shaking him right to his core, reverberating through his bones. As Hawkmoth the kick wouldn’t have done nearly as much damage, but he didn’t want to transform, not yet. Marinette needed to see that he was no threat to anyone. 

“I HATE YOU!” She screamed, “I HATE YOU,” she kicked him again, “I HATE you, I hate y-you,” her voice started shaking, tears started falling and her words became sobs. The assault stopped and for that, Gabriel was grateful.

Marinette was now leaning against a wall staring down at her left fist that was stained with blood. Not her blood. He pressed the area where he was punched gingerly and his hand came away red. His glasses had cut into his face; the glass had broken and drawn blood. Thankfully his eyes hadn’t suffered because of it.

“Marinette,” he said softly, but it came out as more of a soft groan for help as pain, red hot, was still coursing through his veins. Once again, her jaw clenched and she was back up. Ladybug stared him down. Her eyes told him that she regretted nothing. 

“Go to hell!” She spat, “I’ll be back Gabriel, we’ll finish this and Hawkmoth will be no more,” it sounded awfully like a storybook villain’s line. 

Gabriel laughed. His inner Hawkmoth was starting to show. He pushed himself up from the floor, cringing at the pain in his ribs. The older man leaned heavily on the sofa, smearing blood on it in the process. He noticed the stark contrast between his blood and the white fabric, it made for a nice swatch. 

“Why not kill me now?” he waved one arm out in front of him showing her that he was an easy target.

She shook her head, almost as if she was disappointed, “Goodbye, Mr Agreste,” and with that, she was off. 

He didn’t bother following her; he couldn’t. Gabriel slid limply down the side of the sofa letting the darkness envelop him and his conscience slipped away.


	12. Chapter 12

She had chickened out and she knew it. Gabriel had been right there, he had even made a show of how vulnerable he was. She could have destroyed him, crushed him in the comfort of his own home. She had stopped mid-fight because a voice in her head was telling her that this was wrong, that she wasn’t a bad person. That voice told her that she had been chosen for a reason, that this was not the person that was chosen. She had cowered in fear of the voice, knowing that all the words it said were true. Ladybug had seen the blood on her hands and choked, the acrid iron smell of the blood assaulting her nose. She was choking on her own tears and when Gabriel called her civilian name she didn’t hear the voice of Hawkmoth, but the voice of a vulnerable, loving, scared man. Then she looked up to see the man who had willingly tortured her for two years and all doubt was washed away.

Still, she left him there. Ladybug didn’t finish the job.

  
  


She’d let it sink in, she told herself. She’d at least broken a few of his bones, she’d let him rot in his own pain for a while, let him come to her. He would run straight to her, ask for forgiveness, try to talk some sense into her, but she was thinking clearly. She was doing this for Paris, for every soul that had been tortured by Hawkmoth. For every Akuma victim. For Chat Noir and for her own sanity. When Gabriel came running she’d give him a piece of his own medicine. He. Would. Regret. Everything. 

  
  


Whatever the voice was that had chided her in battle would never surface again, she would drown it in her hatred and burn it with her anger. 

000000

He’d woken up to a wall of pain and fell back into dreamless slumber once again. The fourth time he had regained his consciousness he somehow managed to keep his eyes open, though his face was scrunched up in pain. He knew if he let himself rest, even for a moment he’d go back under. It was already dark outside, so he’d been lapsing in and out of sleep for hours since Ladybug had visited him. The name tasted bitter upon his tongue and he wanted to scrub his mind clean of the memories that led up to this moment. 

  
  


Gabriel had never broken a rib before, but he didn’t want to look down and assess the damage, so he left his imagination to plague him with ideas of what was happening to his torso. Swelling? Probably lots. His jaw was throbbing and his face felt like a ton of bricks. A dislocated jaw was a thing, right? Maybe it was broken. This was definitely no normal bruising from a normal punch to the face. Ladybug had punched his civilian face. There ought to be much more damage dealt then the repercussions of a civilian punching a civilian. There was blood in his mouth, he could taste it. A lot of blood. Not good. There was blood dribbling from his mouth in a steady flow. Gabriel reached up to touch it lightly but gasped and drew his hand back when pain coursed through his skull. Weird, he thought his gasp made barely any sound. He tested a breath, then two, but found that his breathing was raspy and constricted. The blood was clogging up his air passage and taking a breath was like breathing water. As soon as he realised he was gulping for air. The little breaths his body allowed himself to take weren’t nearly enough for the man. It hurt to breathe, but he needed the air. 

  
  


“Nooroo,” he rasped, “Dark wings, rise.”

  
  


Immediately, as the magic hit his veins, the pain ebbed, until it was just a mere, dull ache. His breathing was still laboured, but it was much better than before. The blood flow ceased until only droplets of blood were dripping from his lips. The magic was like morphine to the pain, pure bliss, a false sense of security, but still some. He knew, however, that once he dropped his transformation the pain and the injury would be back, so he didn’t. A small tugging in the back of his brain told him that Ladybug would be able to fix this with a wave of her lucky charm. The contradicting thought told him that she wouldn’t help. 

  
  


He sighed, relishing the feeling of being able to do so. He’d go to her. Whatever the quarrel was, it was between him and her. He would stop it right there before Nathalie and Adrien came back. He glanced at the safe. Both the cat and the peacock miraculous sat safely there. He could use them, combine them with his own miraculous.

  
  


‘I don’t know what you’re planning Gabriel, but please stop. For our sake don’t do whatever you are going to do,’

  
  


She had told him not to act stupid, so he wouldn’t. He turned away from the safe abolishing the thought from his head. However, he was going to stop Ladybug for their sake and so he would go through with that. 

  
  


He looked behind him at the large family picture of the three of them. It was intended to be a family photo with Adrien and himself before he had ever considered being with Nathalie, but as always Nathalie was present that day, overlooking every detail and keeping them on track. Adrien had insisted that they take at least one picture with Nathalie in it. Both Nathalie and Gabriel had protested, but Adrien put up a strong argument, saying that he wouldn’t show up for his photoshoots for the next week if they didn’t and all of a sudden they were both ever too eager to take the picture. It was quite cute, Adrien was in the front, his arms curled up into a heart shape framing the adult’s heads. Gabriel smiled. He turned towards the window and jumped out. 

  
  


This was for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew the Agreste family picture that Gabriel has in his atelier, but I don't use Tumblr or anything like it to add it. Really annoying. If you guys know any easy way for me to add the photo that'd be great!


	13. Chapter 13

Gabriel may have been stupid but he wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t go to the Dupain Cheng bakery, not as himself and definitely not as Hawkmoth. Both himself and Ladybug would like to keep their dignity. They would both have to play their cards well. Hawkmoth’s identity was unknown but could easily be revealed by Ladybug. Ladybug couldn’t be seen murdering Hawkmoth, she was Paris’ hero after all. So, Hawkmoth waited, ontop of the Eifel Tower. He had texted Marinette, telling her that he was waiting. ‘This ends now’ he had written. 

  
  


It was hard to think that there had ever been peace between them. Ladybug was out to get him, the roles were reversed. He never thought Marinette had it in her, but he was rudely reminded by his aching ribs that she was ruthless and he had greatly underestimated her. 

  
  


He sat silently. Hawkmoth dared not to move nor make a sound. Ladybug was quick, he’d have to be quicker if he was to make it out of there alive. He’d talk sense into her. Show her the Marinette Dupain Cheng she used to be, the girl he used to know.

  
  


A small part of him knew that he was walking right into her trap. He didn’t want to run. He had told himself that before, that night. He told himself that he would stop running. He didn’t need another back and forth. He was done fighting. Two years was more than enough to wear a man down. 

  
  


A breeze brushed past him and he was up. He took no chances. His eyes darted around looking for the ‘Lady in Red’. It was just a pigeon casually perched on the barricade. He clenched his jaw at the sight. 

  
  


“Brings back memories, doesn’t it.”

  
  


He whirled around at her voice but couldn’t find the person it was allocated to. 

  
  


“Not ones I’m proud of,” he stalled, still looking for Ladybug. 

  
  


“Really?” The question, however, was dripping with hatred. Taunting him, mocking the man he was yesterday, today and tomorrow. Finally, she jumped down from her perch, right at the top of the tower. 

  
  


“Ladybug,” he greeted, but there was an edge of warning to his words.

  
  


“Enough talking. You said it ‘ends now’, well what are you waiting for old man?” She invited him to take the first blow. 

  
  


Hawkmoth shook his head, “I won’t hurt you,” taking up a defensive position.

  
  


Ladybug scowled, “You already have.”

  
  


Ladybug ran forward and landed a punch to his jaw. Pain immediately flared in the area. It blinded him for a precious few seconds and Ladybug took her time to knee his ribs, inflicting more white-hot pain. He dropped his staff on the ground, gasping for air, but she wouldn’t let him have it. Taking Hawkmoth by the shoulders she pushed him up against the railings. Hard enough so that the metal ground against his spine. 

  
  


“Fight you coward,” she pushed him once again and let him crumple to the floor. 

  
  


Hawkmoth lay there, desperately trying to hold on to his transformation and consciousness. 

  
  


After a few moments, she screamed, “FIGHT!”

  
  


The media was on top of everything as per usual. Hawkmoth spotted the drones hovering around the circumference of the tower, getting a 360-degree view of the fight. She’d have to be nice now. Keep her image up.

  
  


“I won’t fight you Marinette,” her jaw clenched at her name. 

  
  


“ARGHHH!” she shouted and with one flick of her wrist, her yoyo was flying through the air. It latched onto the nearest drone and she swung it into another, the momentum caused the drones to catapult into one another flying in an arc around the tower in a domino effect, “Finally, alone.”

  
  


“Marinette,” blood was starting to dribble from his mouth once more.

  
  


“DON’T YOU DARE SAY MY NAME!” her eyes bore into his skull. It reminded him of when he had told Adrien about Hawkmoth. He had shouted at Gabriel telling him never to call him by that name again.

  
  


“I know, but please just listen to me.”

  
  


She stabbed her finger in his face, “Give me one reason, Gabriel,” she hissed, his name but a whisper upon her tongue. He noticed this. She didn’t want to reveal his identity, not for his sake, of that he was sure, but for Adrien. He’d use that to his advantage, “Give me one reason I should let even one sound escape from your wretched mouth.”

  
  


He wasn’t sure if that was an invitation to speak or a threat not to, “Hear me out, for Adrien’s sake.”

  
  


Ladybug laughed. She laughed! Gabriel’s eyes went wide with surprise. She was cackling, wiping tears from her eyes. Then she looked down at his crumpled form and glared, “How about no.”

  
  


She picked him up and flung him against the centre of the tower. Hawkmoth again fell limply. The throbbing pain was enough to immobilise him every move he made and every breath he took was unbearable. Ladybug casually walked up to Hawkmoth, putting in as much swag as she could muster. She grabbed his lapel and thrust his against the needle of the tower. 

  
  


“Can’t breathe,” he gagged, but Ladybug just smirked. 

  
  


“Punch me and I’ll allow you to,” Hawkmoth couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She wanted a fight, a fight that he wasn’t physically capable of giving. She’d kill him if he didn’t, but he’d die if he fought. He needed time to get through to her. He needed her to listen to what he had to say, so he kneed her in the ribs. It was a feeble attempt, without enough force to do any damage, but she loosened her grip.

  
  


“There we go,” still keeping him pinned against the wall. 

  
  


Bzzzt, Bzzzt, Bzzzt.

  
  


Ladybug glanced over at Hawmoth’s cane that had been left, discarded on the floor. She let him go and it took all his effort to stay on his feet. She walked over and picked the stick up. The younger girl flicked the knob on the top open and gave a smug smile. 

  
  


“It’s your partner in crime,” she chucked the staff in his direction and it clattered to a stop at his feet. 

  
  


He groaned as he all but flopped when he picked it up, somehow managing to get back up into a stable standing position. Nathalie’s smiling face looked up at him, her name pasted on the screen. 

  
  


“Answer it!” Ladybug called, striding over to where he stood.

  
  


He did, “Hello?” He asked tentatively.

“Father!” a relived Adrien answered from the other side. A look of panic flashed upon Ladybug’s face, “Are you okay? We saw the newscast, we’re about 5 minutes away!” Ladybug gritted her teeth, “What is Marinette doing?” Hawkmoth didn’t answer, “Father?” Ladybug snatched the staff from his hand and hauled it over the side of the tower, where it most likely fell and broke, cutting Adrien off. 

  
  


“You know I should have told you to tell them not to come!” she laughed at her mistake, “Oh well, I needed Adrien’s miraculous anyway.” 

  
  


“Shit,” he cursed silently. 

  
Sorry about the bad picture quality and lighting, but here's the drawing of the family photo Gabriel has in the atelier. I also apologise for my not so great drawing skills:  
<https://imgur.com/a/QBLCL5u>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SavMart32 for helping me with the picture, as well as kissmyapplejuice.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> This chapter is kinda dark... very dark. There is some violence and I really make a psychopath out of Ladybug. Hope that doesn't reflect on my personality :/

Nathalie hastily pinned the brooch to her blazer and watched slip his ring onto his finger. She shut the safe with a bang and hurried Adrien back towards the car, not bothering to satiate Duusu’s curiosity. She had watched the live news feed of Ladybug taking down Hawkmoth and it had shaken her to her core. They were out of her parent’s house in seconds with the excuse that Adrien, being Chat Noir, had to take care of business and that they would be back as soon as possible. They hadn’t bothered to take any of their belongings, they just left as fast as they could. Nathalie most likely would get a speeding ticket in the mail sometime during the following week. 

Marinette had taken this too far. She had never imagined that Marinette had it in her to be a… monster. That was the only way to describe it. There was a monster in Marinette that Hawkmoth had unleashed. However, the fact that Hawkmoth even considered walking in the path of that monster was completely and utterly stupid. She had no idea what Gabriel had been planning, but this? If Marinette didn’t kill him she surely would. 

Nathalie pushed down on the accelerator and they were off. 

“Adrien, call your father,” Nathalie snapped. Her agitation was bleeding out into voice. 

Adrien dialled the number quickly, not bothering to go into his phone and find the contact.  
Come on Father, pick up!  
He waited with bated breath as the phone rang.  
One ring.  
Two rings.  
Three rings.  
Four rings.

Nathalie gritted her teeth as she listened to the phone.

Five rings.

“Hello?” said Gabriel’s voice from the other end of the line. Gabriel sounded shaky, his normal strong baritone sounding hurt and scared. 

“Father!” Adrien looked up at Nathalie with a tiny spark of hope flickering in his eyes. He looked back down at the phone and gripped it tighter, as though if he let it go he’d lose the connection, “Are you okay? We saw the newscast, we’re about 5 minutes away!” If Nathalie kept up this speed then she’d get them there in 3, “What is Marinette doing?” He had watched the feed himself. The Marinette he saw on screen was not the Marinette he knew. The Marinette Adrien loved would never, ever, in a million years act like that, betray her morals and values so badly that she turned into a killer. Marinette would never willingly hurt a fly! His father didn’t answer. He looked up at Nathalie once again, but his eyes screamed worry, “Father?” there was a muffled sound of the staff being taken away from Hawkmoth’s grasp and a banging sound as it hit metal. Then nothing, “Father? FATHER?” 

Nathalie gripped the steering wheel tighter. Hopefully, they would get there in time.

000000

“Please, don’t hurt them,” Gabriel protested.

“Hurt them?” She laughed. It had started raining heavily and as he looked up at her it made her look even more dangerous and sickly. Like a movie villain, “My quarrel is not with them. I respect Nathalie’s efforts to help you, her reasoning was noble. Adrien is my partner! Do you think I’m a psychopath?” Unfortunately, he was giving in to the idea, “But, I’m not going to be able to get to you. I can’t hurt Adrien, not really, but I can hurt Mayura.” 

“No,” he whimpered.

“That’s what I like to hear,” she smirked. 

Every bone in his body was aching, quite a few were broken he assumed. He didn’t want to think of the state he was in underneath the magic and the suit. He held onto a metal rung, slick with rain, but he only held tighter and pulled himself up. His body screamed and his brain fogged he was sure he was going to lose consciousness, but he focussed on the rain beating down upon his skin and let it wash away the blood from his face. 

“Get down!” Ladybug snarled as she watched with some amusement at his feeble attempt to stand. He almost did what she said in raw fear and the simple fact that his body was struggling not to. She noticed. Ladybug walked over and pushed him, you could say gently, up against the metal, putting slight pressure on his ribs in the process. Even that caused him to double over in pain and she let him slide back down to the floor. She laughed. He was shaking uncontrollably and his pain flared. 

“Sit still,” she threatened. He couldn’t, he didn’t have control of his limbs at this point. She kicked him lightly, sending another shock wave through his abdomen. He willed his body to obey her command. This seemed to keep her entertained, him obeying her every command.

“Roll over, dog,” she spat. if he didn’t she’d inflict more pain, but the simple act of him rolling over would hurt too. Giving in he all but fell on the other side, his face now plastered to the ground. Ladybug cackled. She was about to give him another order when Chat Noir’s voice cut through the air. It wasn’t Chat Noir, the brave and funny hero of Paris, it was the voice of a scared has been, a boy watching his father being attacked by the woman he loved. Loved, as in past participle of love. He didn’t know if he could love a psychopath. 

“Marinette, stop!” Ladybug whipped around taking up the defence, “Leave him alone,” Chat Noir snarled. 

“Hey Kitty, nice of you to join us,” she cooed. 

“Don’t,” he didn’t need to elaborate.

“Where’s bird brain?”

“Making bad jokes now Ladybug, that’s Chat Noir’s trademark move,” Nathalie jumped up from the lower floor, but upon seeing Hawkmoth curled up on the floor she couldn’t help but gasp.

“Go,” Hawkmoth whispered to her, but nobody heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have completely ruined any hope of Marinette being forgiven and all the Adrienette in this fic. Don't know how to climb out of that hole. I've tried to set it up so that anything that happens between them on the Eiffel Tower stays there along as none of them spill to the media. So FYI there are no witnesses, meaning Marinette will not go to prison... unless someone spills the tea, and the Parisians are none the wiser. However, I don't know how Adrien will forgive Marinette or how any of the Agreste's will even be able to look at her again. I'll have to think of something, can't have a fic without any Adrienette, I mean, they're the show, right?


	15. Chapter 15

“Let him go,” she asked through gritted teeth. Her husband lay curled up in pain on the floor soaked in blood. His face was swelling, even worse, it could be seen through the mask. He was a mess. She ached to go over to him and get him away from this place, get him back to the mansion, but a certain bug stood directly in her way. 

Ladybug howled, “He’s the reason I’m here. I’m not letting him go.”

“I’m not a fan of games Ladybug, let’s get this over with,” she withdrew her fan and stood at the ready. 

Chat Noir did the same but not as aggressively, he was scared, he couldn’t hurt her, but what choice did he have? He had been fighting alongside his Lady for years, they fought for each other, fought with each other. He never thought they’d end up fighting one another. Chat Noir gave Mayura a side glance, but she didn’t see.

“Marinette,” he said loudly, putting his hands in the air, the miraculous glinting in the moonlight. He started to circle her and Marinette followed at a safe distance, “I don’t want to hurt you,” each word was annunciated with extra care, as though he was trying to cajole someone to not jump off a building, “Please, leave my father be,” Ladybug visibly clenched her jaw in frustration, “Marinette, this is wrong, you know it.”

“Give me the miraculous Kitty and no one gets hurt.”

Adrien shook his head, he was standing right next to his father now and Marinette was in arm’s length of Mayura, “Look what you’ve done to him,” he pointed down at Hawkmoth but tried not to look, the sight had traumatised him, “I will not give you my miraculous,” he dropped his transformation, “but neither will I fight you,” They stared at each other both refusing to make eye contact. 

The rain was soaking through his shirt causing it to stick to his body and his hair flopped down upon his forehead. He held her gaze, but by rubbing his thumb against his index finger he slowly managed to slip the ring off. Plagg swiftly took it from his grasp before it fell and flew it over to Mayura who took it discreetly, albeit surprised. 

Mayura slipped the ring on, but didn’t bring up the second transformation, “Marinette. This is our fight now.” 

Mayura lunged at the girl, but she quickly ducked out of the way causing Mayura to tumble forward and land hard on the ground. Ladybug already had her yoyo swinging.

“Is that all you got?” The older woman gritted her teeth and ran towards her enemy. 

Again Ladybug’s quick thinking got her out of the way long before Mayura got to her. Ladybug flicked her wrist and the yoyo connected with Mayura’s back causing her to tumble forward into the barricade. The young hero was playing it cool. There was no need for her to exert herself when she could show dominance just by casually avoiding Mayura’s hits. 

“Coward,” Mayura spat once she had regained her balance. That seemed to hit a nerve, Ladybug was flying towards her yoyo twirling at a dangerous speed. 

Her fist connected with Ladybug’s cheek causing her to fly sidewards and land with a thud, but she quickly regained her composure and landed a kick to Mayura’s temple.

000000

“Father,” Adrien whispered, tearing his eyes away from the battle, “Father, I need you to stand up,” Hawkmoth grunted, “Please Father, I can’t carry you, Nathalie has my ring. We need to get you to the hospital. We need to get you out of here,” Adrien pleaded. 

The fear in Adrien’s voice was enough to shake him out of his daze, he forced himself onto his knees but that was as far as he could go, he was already panting heavily. Adrien pulled his arm trying to get him to move, but it buckled and he collapsed with it, “Adrien stop, you need to go.”

“I’m not leaving you,” there were tears in his eyes, “I am not leaving you.”

000000

Out of the corner of Ladybug’s eyes, she observed Adrien struggling to help his father up. She smirked and with another flick of her wrist, the yoyo hit Adrien in the head rendering him unconscious. 

“Adrien!” Mayura shouted, even Hawkmoth managed to let out a soft cry. 

During her momentary distraction Ladybug was able to land two punches, one to the jaw and another to her chest leaving her winded. Pulling out her fan she blocked her opponents next punch managing to slice at her neck but drew little blood.

The fight went on like this for what seemed like hours but Mayura was tiring quickly. She could feel the tickling of a cough trying to escape and her muscles were weakening. She was sure she’d feel the repercussions of this battle for days to come. Adrien was unconscious and Hawkmoth could barely move, so it was up to her to win this fight. 

Ladybug took hold of her hand and pulled, twisting it around causing her to hunch over to avoid pain. She pulled Mayura up against herself and used the yoyo to wrap around her neck cutting off her air passage. 

“Nathalie!” Hawkmoth gasped. Putting most of his weight on his bruised hands he pushed himself up into a standing position. He almost let out a cry of pain but bit down on his cheek instead, drawing even more blood. He was leaning heavily on the metal frame of the tower, “Leave her alone,” he breathed.

Ladybug only pulled tighter, “Where is the miraculous?” 

“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” he made an act of looking around desperately trying to spot it. He looked over to his son who lay sprawled across the floor, Hawkmoth’s own blood on his shirt and hands, but other than that he knew that his son’s hands bore no ring, “Adrien doesn’t have it, it’s not on him,” He watched in horror as the girl pulled the string again drawing blood from his wife’s neck, “Plagg must have taken it,” he tried, defeatedly. 

Ladybug gritted her teeth, “No the kwami’s smarter than that, it’s the only thing that will keep his master safe and it’s a bargaining chip.” 

He couldn’t give it to her, it would be the end of all of them but he watched as Nathalie clawed at the string desperately, he knew neither of them would be able to take it for much longer.

Ladybug looked at Hawkmoth and smiled, “You want to know what my plan is?” he really didn’t, however, she didn’t bother to wait for his answer, “I don’t want to kill you. Hell no. That would make me a murderer. I don’t want that on my conscience. I want to make you suffer. Yes. You hurt me, it’s only natural,” she paused, letting it sink in, “I was thinking about all this pain and I loathed it, I wished it never happened in the first place. And that was it,” her eyes went wide and she looked excited, as though she was waiting for him to suddenly whip out a Christmas gift, “I knew what I had to do! I had to wish Hawkmoth had never happened. Obviously without killing anyone,” though her psychopathic behaviour had suggested otherwise, “So my wish will be to keep Emilie alive!” 

Hawkmoth’s eyes went wide, “No.”

“You don’t understand. Emilie would never have fallen sick in the first place. You’d have never needed to become Hawkmoth!”

He’d have never fallen out of love with Emilie in the first place, he thought. He would be with Adrien and Emilie, none of them will be hurt, Nathalie would still be there. There would have been no Hawkmoth, no pain. Nobody would have ever gotten hurt.

“There we go,” Ladybug grinned, “you get it, don’t you?” he expressions turned serious once more, “So, where is the miraculous?” His eyes betrayed him and he looked over at the ring on Mayura’s hand. Ladybug noticed, “Perfect!” she slipped the ring from Mayura’s hand and let the woman drop to the floor with a thud, “That wasn’t so hard was it?” she grinned.

He looked down at his wife. She frowned at him, there were tears falling from her eyes, but she just looked disappointed. ‘Oh Gabriel,” she whispered, hanging her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! Finally, I revealed her plan! You guys have no idea how excited I was to get this chapter down since chapter 8!
> 
> What do think about Gabriel wanting his old life back? You can't blame him entirely, it makes sense, it's also the ideal scenario for everyone.


	16. Chapter 16

Hawkmoth really couldn’t think clearly. Furthermore, he was in a dire state and desperately needed help. Though he couldn’t help ut think about Marinette’s wish. 

If she wished for Emilie never to have fallen sick none of this would have happened, three years of history would be erased. Emilie would be safe, so would Adrien and so would Nathalie. Everyone wins. He would have never become Hawkmoth, never have hurt Marinette or terrorised the city. He would still love Emilie and Adrien would be happy with her. There would be no more hurt and no more pain and his horrible past would never have occurred in the first place. And he’d be happy, that was the important thing, he’d be happy and Adrien would have his mother, he’d have his wife. They wouldn’t even have grieved for her death, she wouldn’t have died! Nathalie would still love him, but he wouldn’t know. 

He gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw. Nathalie. The love of his life… but was she? Hawkmoth groaned. If the wish kept Emilie alive then Nathalie and himself would never be a thing. He’d never fall in love with her, never be with her. Where would that leave her? Pining over a married man who would never learn to love her back? She’d go back to being his assistant, Adrien’s tutor. She’d learnt to love the boy as a son in those two years when Emilie was gone, now Adrien was her son. She’d lose that too. She’d be alone again, back to square one. She wouldn’t be sick though, she wouldn’t even hope to be with him. She’d find someone else, her workload would be less as he’d actually be working and not spending his time being Hawkmoth. That would be good, wouldn’t it. 

He looked at Nathalie who was lying on the floor, rubbing at a dangerously red welt on her neck. 

Wouldn’t it?

000000

Mayura refused to look at her husband. However, she was torn between taking care of him and getting angry at him. She chose to dwell on the latter. 

How could he even hesitate? The obvious decision was no. Marinette couldn’t take the miraculous and wish that Emilie had never fallen ill, they’d lose all of this. She’d lose Adrien, Gabriel… even Marinette. She’d lose everything she’d come to love these past years. Nathalie would be reduced to the mere assistant of fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste, she’d only be tutoring Adrien and she’d never get a chance to see the boy as her son. She’d lose a life. However, she knew that Emilie would be fine, Adrien would be happy and Gabriel would too. Didn’t that makeup for all her pain? The Nathalie she knew two years ago would never have thought twice, that Nathalie would see that it would benefit the Agreste’s and would have made the selfless decision to let Marinette go forward with her plan, would have even helped her with it. However, since then Nathalie learnt to love herself, love her life, be a bit selfish and care for herself, she had Gabriel to thank for that. How could Gabriel give that away, give her away? 

Adrien was still knocked out cold. He wouldn’t be waking up in a while, she was sure. He’d sustain a big bruise as a result of the hit. She didn’t look over at Hawkmoth but knew that he was in no state to fight, nor would he. She was tired and bruised, the welt on her neck was burning. She had coughed up blood in her mouth, so Hawkmoth wouldn’t see, she was sure that there would be more, and she might need to go back to the Guardian once this was over. She was the only one who could stop ladybug, selfish reasons or not, she was going to. 

“Marinette, you know you’ll never meet Adrien if you do this,” the young girl halted. She had been pacing, muttering to herself, confident that all her enemies were down for the time being.

She hadn’t thought about that, “So?” 

“You still love him, I can see it,” though the girl had rendered him unconscious. She had witnessed Marinette and Adrien’s relationship, they were destined for each other. Marinette didn’t reply, she kept her back to her and stared down at the ring in her palm, “He won’t come to school, I’d be tutoring him. You’d only be able to stare at his posters, you’d never meet him.”

“Yes I would, Gabriel might take me on as an intern,” she replied, however, he confidence was wavering.

“No, the only reason Gabriel noticed you was because Adrien held that hat-making competition at your school. He won’t do it if he’s not in the school. Gabriel wasn’t even looking for an intern when he made you his, he probably only took you on because you were Adrien’s girlfriend.”

“That’s not true-” Ladybug shot back.

“He’s an introvert Marinette,” she interrupted, knowing full well that Gabriel could hear, “He wouldn’t take a random girl from Adrien’s school. “

“You’re only saying this because it will benefit you,” she spat.

You know that I sacrificed my life for Gabriel’s cause, so grant me this moment of selfishness,” she bit back with equal spite, “ and so what if it benefits me? Think about what will happen to you if you do this.”

“Shut up,” Ladybug growled.

“Fine, there will be no Hawkmoth, but you’ll lose Adrien.”

“Shut up.”

“You’ll lose any hope in a career in fashion.”

“Shut up.” 

“You’ll lose the miraculous,” Nathalie went on.

“Shut up,” she shouted more spitefully than the last.

“You’ll lose Tikki,” she was getting the girl angry, but she needed her to doubt her plan. 

“No, no, no, shut up,” Ladybug put her hands over her ears as if the words were paining her. 

“You’ll lose your life Marinette.”

“STOP!” Ladybug was on her in a moment.

She had her pinned to the ground, Mayura was lying on her back and Ladybug was straddling her. She brought her fist up and then down hard, crunching against Mayura’s face. The hit echoed through her body, she was already losing consciousness. Another punch to her cheek, then another. The punches came raining down, never-ending. After what felt like an eternity she blacked out. 

000000

Hawkmoth cursed as he watched the scene play out before him. He was still leaning heavily on the tower, looking at everything through a thick layer of fog, barely registering what was happening to himself. He heard a sickening crunch as Ladybug’s fist connected with Mayura’s face. 

“Nathalie,” he whimpered.

Again and again, Ladybug hit her, her anger never seeming to fade. He pushed away from the wall and made his way towards Mayura. His brain begged him to stop and take a rest, to fall on the ground and collapse, but he kept on, one foot in front of the other, nearly falling flat on his face multiple times. He saw Mayura fall unconscious her transformation dropped and his fear intensified, she wouldn’t be protected by the magic of the miraculous anymore. She would be punched with the same force that ruined his jaw, but over and over again. 

He came up just behind her. She hadn’t noticed him, she was too busy channelling her anger into each punch. Hawkmoth grabbed Ladybug’s head and sent them both flying as his legs finally buckled. He all but tore the earrings from her ears and her transformation dropped. She dropped to the ground with Hawkmoth on top of her. 

“NO,” she screamed and writhed, trying desperately to push him off, but he knocked he out with a punch of his own to her temple.

He carefully took the ring from her hand and rolled away from her. Laying quietly on the ground and rubbing the miraculous between his fingers. The thought crossed his mind that he could go through with Marinette’s wish, but he chided himself and banished the thought from his mind. He lay quietly for a while longer before pushing himself up and pocketing the miraculous. Slowly he crawled towards his wife and lay down beside her. 

0000000

Adrien woke up to a ridiculous throbbing pain in his head. He brought his hand up and felt his hair which was clumped up with dried blood, his t-shirt was caked in some places with his father’s blood. His Father! He looked around desperately. Marinette lay unconscious on the ground a few metres away and his father was almost in arm’s length of her, his breathing was shallow but he seemed awake. Nathalie lay close, but she looked battered and bruised, and he could see from this distance that her face was starting to swell. He went over to them. There was no way for him to get them home without help or at least making more than one trip. He went over to his father who was lying peacefully on the ground staring up at the sky. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the rain that was splashing on his face. A droplet sliced through the blood on his face and trailed down his cheek. 

“Father,” Hawkmoth groaned and turned his head but didn’t look up at him, “Father,” Adrien crouched down beside him and lay a hand on his cheek, wiping away the blood that was dripping down the side, “Where’s my ring, Father?” he was going to need it if he had any chance of getting them home. Gabriel lifted his hand from the floor and dropped it on the pocket of his suit jacket. Hawkmoth’s transformation was probably the most casual as it was more of a suit than a bodysuit, Adrien found himself slightly jealous, “I’m going to get you guys home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to just say that Adrien is a doll, he woke up and he cared not for himself but for his father. UWU
> 
> Also, carola_tavs commented on the last chapter with:  
> He’d have never fallen out of love with Emilie in the first place, he thought. He would be with Adrien and Emilie, none of them will be hurt, Nathalie would still be there. There would have been no Hawkmoth, no pain. Nobody would have ever gotten hurt.
> 
> Is he chosing to keep Nathalie safe or he's Emilie? What's in his head? And did Nathalie read him right?
> 
> I'm aware I haven't fully answered your question in this chapter. It's a bit ambiguous, I'll be clearing stuff up in later chapters if you have any uncertainty, but you can vaguely see who has what opinion on the wish.


	17. Chapter 17

Adrien took the car and somehow managed to drive them all back without causing a traffic jam, including Marinette who he put in the guest bedroom and kept Plagg to keep guard. His father and Nathalie were still unconscious in the atelier. He paced up and down the room thinking of what move they should make next. He’d checked the newsfeed and the Ladyblog, no one had witnessed their kerfuffle. So far so good. They’d have to decide what to do with Marinette themselves. The Guardian would probably revoke her miraculous if he found out about this. However, Adrien didn’t fancy doing that to her, there was still a tiny bit of him that wanted Marinette safe and well and wanted them to be together again, a part of him that still loved her. He unconsciously tilted his head up and looked towards the ceiling, where she slept one floor above.

Shaking the feeling off he looked back down at his parents. They were badly hurt. It was a wonder his father had managed to keep his transformation on whilst in an unconscious state but he supposed Nooroo had something to do with it. His mother’s face was banged up quite badly, there was blood all over it and it was puffed up and red, but not as bad as it could have been, it would heal. She had been punched by Ladybug he assumed, he knew the marks of a good punch to the face. However, she was the one who was better off out of the two of them. Gabriel looked deflated, like a balloon that had been popped. His ribs were swollen and there was a steady dribble of blood coming from his mouth that was getting all over the white couch. He hoped his father wouldn’t mind. His face was swelling and bloated like his wife’s, probably from being punched but considerably more so.

Adrien slowly went over and plucked the miraculous from his father’s chest. A flash of purple light revealed the true extent of the damage. Gabriel looked horrible, his face was bloody and in some areas a dirty purple from bruising. Most likely he’d been punched much before the fight. His torso was swelling as he’d witnessed with his transformation still on but it didn’t look right. He’d probably broken something. Adrien sucked in a sharp breath, a horrible feeling tumbled around in his stomach. He needed to get them to a hospital. With shaky hands, he reached inside his pocket for his phone, the screen was cracked and the broken glass scratched at his hand drawing blood as he slid his hand out of his pocket. He dialled 112 and waited impatiently as the phone rung.

“Hello, emergency services, what’s the problem?” a kind male voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

“Hi, this is Adrien Agreste, my mother and father have been in an accident and have serious injuries,” He replied shakily. He assumed they’d know who Adrien Agreste was, “They need an ambulance, now.”

“Okay Adrien,” the voice sounded slightly more excited now. Their words coming out faster than deemed necessary, “No need to tell me your address,” slightly creepy, Adrien thought, but expected, everyone kinda knew where he lived, “what’s the number you are calling from?

“33-63-51-24,” he rattled off by heart.

“3-3-6-3-5-1-2-4?” the man repeated. Adrien was starting to get impatient.

“Yes,” he bit back.

“Everything will be alright Adrien, I just need you to answer a few questions for me,” said the man on the other end of the phone, catching on to Adrien’s annoyed tone, “How old are your parents?”

“My father is 46 and my mother is 44,” Adrien replied quickly glancing at each of his parents respectively.

“Are they both breathing?”

“Yes,” he looked at his father and did a double-take, “No, I think my father is having difficulty breathing. He’s-” Adrien crouched down in front of Gabriel and placed the phone screen up to his mouth. He’d read about this in a spy book a while ago. He quickly looked at the now slightly fogged up screen and breathed a sigh of relief, “Barely, but it’s there.”

“Is either of them conscious?”

“No.”

“Can you tell me more about their injuries? Anything visible?”

“I’m not sure, but they’ve been punched in the face, however, I think my father’s worse, he’s bleeding from the mouth. He’s probably broken his ribs too.”

“Okay Adrien, the emergency services are already on their way. They should arrive in less than five minutes.”

“Thank you,” he ended the call and continued his pacing.

The ambulance, as promised arrived in 3 minutes time. Adrien let them in without hesitation. Two men clad in a black and white uniform rushed down from the vehicle and follow Adrien inside. They were quite the opposite of each other. One man was tall and lanky, his white jacket was draped loosely over his shoulders, probably a size too big. His companion was much shorter and broader too, but younger, his face was kind and he sported a large bushy moustache that sprouted above his lip.

“Monsieur Agreste, can you tell us what happened? Did they have a fight?” asked the lanky, more serious man.

Adrien hesitated, he didn’t exactly think about what he was going to say to the officials when they came, “No, no. They, uh, we were coming home from my mother’s parents house but it was dark and we stopped for a while,” partly the truth, the best lies are based on the truth, he heard Chloe say once when they got into trouble with their parents, “I got out of the car got socked on the head by this big guy,” Adrien pointed to his head, “my Father and Mother came to help and got pretty banged up,” he tried not to waffle. The fewer details the more believable. Another tip from Chloe, “I uh, managed to get us all home in one piece,” he splayed his hands out in front of him.

The shorter officer frowned, “Why didn’t you call us when you were back over there,” he gestured behind him pointing in no direction in particular.

“I didn’t realise the extent of their injuries, it was dark. I thought it was best to get them home.”

“Of course,” the tall man replied, however, he was still frowning, “Okay then Monsieur Agreste, leave it to us. There won’t be place for you to ride with us in the ambulance. Will that be okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” he had to keep an eye on Marinette anyway.

“You can drive up behind us,” the moustache man offered. However, Adrien and Nathalie had left their driver in Reims with his grandparents. It would be hard to explain if anything happened to Nathalie. Adrien still hadn’t received his learner’s licence, he had been putting it off. He technically didn’t need to learn, he had a driver, however, Nathalie would insist every now and then so he had known enough to get them home safely, but that didn’t mean he had a licence.

“No, my driver took a day off and I don’t have my learners yet.”

“Ah,” replied the moustache man, “wise decision, you don’t want to attract two emergency services in a day,” the man chuckled, lightening the mood. Adrien gave a fake model laugh in response. By now both his parents were in the ambulance and they were ready to set off.

“This isn’t to leave the hospital. This is private and we wouldn’t like the media interfering,” Adrien said in a rather Gabriel like voice, one he heard his father use often with anyone outside of the house.

“Of course. Au revoir, Monsieur Agreste. Someone will be in contact with you soon,” deadpanned the tall man.

Moustache man came up to him and lay a hand on his shoulder, “Not to worry garçon, your parents are in safe hands,” Adrien knew it was only his job to comfort him but the man’s tone made Adrien believe him.

He watched the ambulance leave and even waved them a small goodbye, then he turned on his heel and trodded up the stairs to wait for Marinette to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise if any of the details are incorrect. For Adrien's details, I used the Miraculous Ladybug Wiki and in terms of Gabriel's and Nathalie's age I there were some posts on it so I evaluated an age using that. I used a rough outline from online on how an emergency services call would play out. From the images, I googled I concluded that French ambulance officers have a black uniform, but have white jackets. However, not completely sure about that as there were only a few images. I'm aware that the officers would ask Adrien other questions but I'm going to let that slide cause it would have been boring. I've also just realised that the call centre guy and the ambulance officers are all males. Sorry.


	18. Chapter 18

Marinette was awake but her eyes weren’t open. She assessed her condition. She probably had a light concussion. Her head was throbbing like mad, as though someone was continuously stabbing at her skull. Every limb hurt if she was being honest. Muscle pain, she assumed, from all the physical exertion. 

She had failed. She had failed so badly. She almost had him, on multiple occasions. She had knocked Adrien out, she could have seized his miraculous and then run off to make the wish, but she didn’t. A small part of her regretted injuring Adrien and for bringing him into all of this, but it would be better for him, better for everyone if her wish went through. 

“Marinette,” his voice was deadpan and cold. She almost winced at the lack of emotion coming from her ex-boyfriend. 

Maybe she could still convince him to hand over his miraculous, “Adrien,” this time she did wince as she tried to prop herself up in a sitting position. Adrien, however, offered no help. 

They stared at each other for what felt like hours. Marinette wincing every time she had to change her position to get more comfortable. It was annoying, the bed was too soft and she’d sink into the mattress every time she got comfortable. Every so often she’d shiver at the coolness of the silk sheets she was covered in. Adrien must have tucked her in. She couldn’t help but inwardly smile at the thought. Throughout the full five minutes, they sat there in silence Adrien made sudden movements, his countenance never betrayed him and he couldn’t help but think that he looked a lot like Nathalie whenever she was on business.

“Adrien. You don’t understand,” she could literally see Adrien snap.

“Do I not?” His words were weirdly calm, she’d expected him to shout, but his volume was level, however, his voice was full of malice and venom, “You. Hurt. My. Parents.”

“You don’t know why I did it. Let me explain.”

“I don’t think you have the right to.”  
“They hurt me-”

“I don’t want a sob story. I get it. Hawkmoth did some horrible things. He did the wrong things for the right reason and yes, there are some things that were hard to forgive, but he meant well. He hurt people, he terrorized Paris. He hurt me- you know what he probably hurt me more than he hurt you. Cause I’m his damn son! But you,” he jabbed his finger in her direction, “you nearly killed him, not once was that his aim, to murder us. He only wanted the miraculous-”

“That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t want to kill him,” Marinette pleaded.

“Really, because he was half dead! He was hardly breathing and...shit, I don’t know if he’ll come out of that hospital alive,” Adrien stared down at his feet. What if his father didn’t make it? What then. He can’t lose both his parents, not that Nathalie wasn’t his mother, but she wasn’t blood. 

“He will,” she saw her chance, “If you help me. Give me your miraculous Adrien,” he looked up at her appalled, “I know what you're thinking. Just listen,” Adrien frowned, “My wish will be to make sure that Gabriel Agreste never picks up the butterfly miraculous,” his expression didn't change, “he'll never hurt anyone ever. Your mother would never have picked up he miraculous and hurt herself. Paris would be safe!”

Adrien didn't reply. He sat silently but never made eye contact. After a minute he spoke, “What about the things that happened because of Hawkmoth? I would never leave my house, I'd never go to school, meet all of our friends. I’d never meet you.”

“Yeah but I'd know and I could tell-”

“I wouldn't even know you existed. You'd never get past the gate. I'd never be Chat Noir. You’d never be Ladybug. I'd be stuck in my house for the rest of my life. I'd be… lonely.”

“You'd have your mother,” Marinette blurted, trying to salvage what was left of the situation.

“To be honest, she wasn't as amazing as father and I made her out to be. She was never really there. Always of at some movie or photo shoot father may have been happier but he still was busy all the time. Nathalie was basically the only person there for me, but even she was busy with work more often than not. My father made the wish. He wished for mother to get better. He must have gotten so frustrated because after all his hard work in the end mother and him got a divorce. And now that I think about it Nathalie and Father would have never gotten together if he had never donned the miraculous for  
my mother,” Adrien sighed, “I know the prospect sounds great Marinette, but what's happened has happened and we shouldn't try to change that. Look around you, Paris is a better place. It has us to look after it and fight the crime. If you don't want to listen to me at least listen to facts. Crime rates have dropped drastically, Parisians are happier, there is a more positive attitude all round throughout Paris, you and I have seen that first hand,” Adrien looked at her with sad eyes but at least now his face wasn't emotionless or angry, “I know life was hard, life is hard, but I wouldn't trade it for another, I wouldn't trade it for the world.”

Marinette stared at him blankly for a few moments more before he pushed herself up and off the bed.

“What are you doing? Where do you think you're going?” Adrien stood up too, she held her hand up to stop him.

“Don't try to stop me. Don't try to follow me. She trudged past Adrien ignoring the pain that it caused her to move, “I don't want my miraculous back, I'm not worthy of it. Give it to the Guardian. Ask him to choose someone else,” Marinette was nearly out the door, “oh and say goodbye to Tikki for me?”

Adrien didn't bother to follow her, he plopped back down on the chair and ignored the single tear that trickled down his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, I don't know how to salvage Marinette and Adrien's relationship.
> 
> I was reading through the fic myself, just skimming, and I came up to the part where Ladybug and Hawkmoth are fighting on the Eiffel Tower before Adrien and Nathalie come and… damn it’s violent.


	19. Chapter 19

Gabriel hurt… everywhere. Everything hurt. His throat was dry. He moved his tongue about the bridge of his mouth and swallowed. He tasted blood. He wanted to frown but quickly realised that the action caused a sharp string of pain through the rest of his face like a knife was being drawn painfully across it. He decided it was probably best not to move. However, now that he was conscious of it he found it increasingly hard to keep his body in the position he was in. He sighed, trying desperately to relax his body, but more pain bombarded his brain and he blacked out. 

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Through his small flashes of consciousness, Gabriel figured out that he was now in a hospital. Funny, he seemed to be moving around the place. First, he remembered that he found himself lying on cold metal, rain pouring from the sky like icicles and crashing down on to him. He shivered at the thought. Then he was somehow moved to shelter. It was a white room if he recalled correctly. He had been placed on something soft. He had heard a boy speaking. His son? Adrien? He couldn't be sure. Next, he woke in some kind of bed. Very uncomfortable, not up to his standards. He remembered a human-shaped splotch standing over him speaking indiscernible words if they were words at all. On top of that he was being jostled around wildly as if he was speeding down a race track in the bed he was in. Now he was in a hospital, as far as he was aware he had gone through the cycle of consciousness and unconsciousness about 4-5 times whilst there. 

He barely recalled his visitors. First, it was a girl. She wore a cute outfit that the fashion designer in him appreciated. A black blazer over a white shirt and a small pink satchel that he quite admired the workmanship of. She was speaking words, but again his mind was foggy and his ears betrayed him and he wasn't able to decipher why she was saying. She was crying, of that he was sure. He wanted to console her but wasn't able to speak. He knew her, an old employee. Adrien’s close friend, closer than a friend. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, but before it came to him he went back under.

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Next came Adrien. He was sure of that. He became a constant in his waking moments; it was Adrien that was always beside him. However, Gabriel was saddened to realise that whenever he was there Adrien was either crying or just staring off into the distance solemnly. Gabriel wanted to reach out to him but he knew it would cause him too much pain. He wanted to speak but found more often than not that his throat was like sandpaper and it hurt to think of words. Gabriel was constantly tired, as much as he had ‘slept’, all he wanted to do was wake up with the pain gone and then, properly, fall back to sleep. 

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During one of his later periods of wakefulness, he remembered Nathalie’s presence. She looked tired. Deep bags were etched under her eyes. She looked dishevelled but somewhat relieved when she saw that he was awake. She asked him if he was feeling alright and he was surprised that he was able to hear her loud and clear. He smiled softly up at her, but frowned when he heard Adrien curtly state, ‘He’s not going to reply to you, you know?’. He had never heard such bluntness from his son. His tone was flat and dead. She too frowned at Adrien and didn’t see Gabriel’s reaction to her question nor Adrien’s remark. Gabriel felt the urge to say something, or at least correct Adrien for his rudeness.

“Adrien Agreste,” he managed to rasp out. He tried to put as much ferocity and sternness in the name as possible, but it didn’t seem to work because Adrien and Nathalie both snapped their attention back to him with the biggest smiles he had ever seen, on their faces. Adrien looked on the verge of tears and he frowned because he didn’t want to see him cry again, but they seemed to be happy tears so he told himself that he would allow it. Not that he had any control over anything in the state he was in. 

Adrien’s energy suddenly returned and he sat silently as the boy told the story of what had happened, Nathalie chipping in once in a while to fill in the details that Adrien had missed. It was nice. He blanked for most of the story tuning Adrien’s words out and focusing more on the company that the two of them brought. It felt like a family. Adrien just in his eye line at his feet and Nathalie fit herself in the crook of his arm, carding her fingers through his hair. Everything felt great like the world had stopped spinning and all that mattered was them, then, at that moment. This was his life. His son Chat Noir, his wife Mayura, himself Hawkmoth. He found it amusing to think that they were in fact, two villains and a superhero in one room having the most normal family moment anyone could have, excluding the fact that they were in a hospital, of course. The only thing to remind them of the outside world was the soft beeping of the machines that were plugged into him and the reality of the story being told. After Adrien had finished he had fallen asleep again. 

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It was around the 9th time he had awoken by now and he was pleasantly surprised to be in his room. He let himself sink further into the soft mattress and blankets that covered him. He turned to lie on his side. It took him a couple of seconds to realise that he wasn't able to do that before. Before him lay Nathalie. She was curled up beside him, but she had kept an inch from Gabriel to avoid touching him and, he assumed, ‘hurting’ him. He smiled at the amount of concern she had. He reached out and stroked her hair as she had done for him back at the hospital.

It’s going to be alright. That he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!!!


	20. Chapter 20

**Adrien Agreste, Age 17, 2 years later**

  
  
  
  
  


Adrien pushed on the cafe door holding it open for another boy to exit as he entered. The bell above him tinkled and he smiled. Vincent had given him a half-hour break from the photoshoot before they started up again and he intended to make the most of it. He walked up to the counter and requested a medium mocha, relishing the feeling of rebelliousness as he did so. If Nathalie or his father found out he’d most definitely get reprimanded about his diet and sticking to it, but he had always had a sweet tooth and a large appetite, at least he didn't get a large. Adrien walked across the room and gracefully plopped himself down on a chair choosing a table next to a window overlooking the park. The sun was shining gracefully upon Paris, lighting up every corner. Not too hot, but still bright as ever. 

  
  
  


Paris, when you stop to take in the view, really was beautiful. These days he did have time, Nathalie had made sure of that. He finally had a proper family. No complications. Paris was safe, he hadn’t needed to become Chat Noir in a while now, not that it had stopped him from doing so. Chat Noir would always be a part of him. One day, he’d have to let Plagg go, but today was not that day. His new partner was a blast, younger than him, the girl called herself Gentlebug, a play on ‘gentleman’, but only he really knew that, the media had just taken it to be the words gentle and bug squished together. She was as courageous and confident as his old partner. However, she didn’t really act gentlemanly, she was more like a female version of Nino if he were, to be honest. Very swag, was that the word? Into all the teenage slang. It was weird having someone just as serious and sometimes less so than himself as Ladybug, but he had embraced the change. Hawkmoth wasn’t around anymore, so there weren’t any serious crimes being committed, the occasional urgent call in from the police or the American superheroes was the majority of the action that the two of them got. 

  
  
  


Life was easier. Adrien was finally able to focus on his family, friends and studies. Marinette had moved schools, she was now in America, having taken up Audrey Bourgeois’ offer to be an intern at Style Queen, she had distanced herself from him completely and only occasionally contacted their other friends. It was sad to think that they would never be friends ever again, even if he met her occasionally in the future because of the connection the Gabriel brand had with Style Queen. He was studying business management, in hindsight of him inheriting the Gabriel brand. He had no interest in continuing as a model but these days it was more of a hobby than anything and his father didn’t assign the task to him often. Life was going great. 

  
  
  


A waiter came up to him and placed his coffee down in front of him. He thanked the waiter with a small nod and a quick ‘thanks’. He let his gaze wander around the cafe as he slowly sipped his coffee. Adrien’s eyes went wide and he nearly choked on his coffee as he spotted a petit girl with blue-black hair sitting on the opposite side of the room. 

  
  
  


“Marinette?” he said out loud. She either had super hearing even without the ladybug suit on or he was way too loud because she turned her head and stared right at him. He sputtered and she blushed her eyes filling with the same surprise. But the surprise was quickly replaced with fear and she looked away from him, rushing to gather the books that had been laid out before her. As soon as he realised what she was doing he too rushed to gather his cup and stop her. 

  
  
  


Adrien silently thanked his father for his long legs as he strode, elegantly but quickly across the room. 

  
  
  


“Hi, Marinette,” he said casually as if their little exchange across the room had never happened. She was in the middle of stuffing another sketchbook into her bag and looked up at him slowly, as though he was some monster that had crept up on her unexpectedly. Adrien ignored the look and gestured to the chair opposite her, “May I?” She gulped and nodded. He sat, “What brings you here? I thought you were in America?”

  
  


“Um-I. Audrey,” Marinette stammered.

  
  
  


“Ah,” how could he forget. His father had been dreading meeting with her all throughout yesterday, “Of course.” he paused, thinking of what to say next, “What’s it like having her for a boss?”

  
  
  


“She’s worse than your father,” Marinette grumbled and Adrien couldn’t help but laugh. She too smiled after a few seconds. The conversation gradually became lighter and Adrien found it easy, eventually, making conversation with her. Just like the good old days.

  
  
  


It only felt like they had been talking for a few minutes. He had learnt so much about her and shared an equal amount about himself. However, when Adrien glanced at his watch he found that it was past his time to leave and soon Vincent would send people to look for him if he didn’t leave soon.

  
  
  


He interrupted Marinette mid-sentence, “Sorry, but I’ve got to go,” he swore that she looked disappointed.

  
  
  


“That’s okay, I understand. You must be busy.”

  
  
  


Adrien got up to leave but hesitated at the table. He turned back to her, “Hey, you know, I quite enjoyed talking to you, it was nice,” he paused, “Maybe we could do it again sometime soon?” he remembered that she lived in America, and almost facepalmed, “Whenever you’re around I mean.”

  
  
  


“That’d be great.” she smiled up at him.

  
  
  


“Great,” he nodded, “cool, that’s cool. I’ll see you around then.”

  
  
  


“See you.”

  
  
  


He turned and left with a smug smile on his face. He headed back to the photoshoot to see a disappointed Vincent and not at all chuffed Nathalie waiting for him. He waved off their questions and got in position in front of the camera. 

  
  
  


Halfway through the shoot, he felt his phone buzz and fished it out from his pocket much to Vincent’s dismay.

  
  


Marinette Dupain-Cheng

  
  


Hi

  
  
  
  


Adrien smiled down at the screen and typed in his reply.

  
  


Hi

How did you get my number?

Audrey

Oh shit, she has my number!!??😱

😂

  
  
  


Yeah, he thought, everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been following from the beginning. This is most definitely the last instalment of this series. I really enjoyed writing this series and it has helped me to grow as a writer. Its been so great to write this series and see all of your reactions to it. Thank you so much! Bless you :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment and kudos. I love hearing from you guys!


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